Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security

Pseudoscience Intelligence Studies

█ JUDSON KNIGHT

During the 1960s, Soviet intelligence services became interested in the
possible use of paranormal abilities for "psychic
intelligence" or "remote viewing"—the use of
telekinetic powers to glimpse or otherwise comprehend objects not
immediately available to the senses. Remote viewing, it was claimed, would
help intelligence officers gain access to information that could not be
seen or heard by ordinary means. U.S. intelligence officials, particularly
in the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), learned of the Soviet interest,
and themselves became fascinated with remote viewing. The result was a $20
million DIA program known as Stargate, which lasted throughout the 1980s.
Ultimately red-flagged by CIA, Stargate in its heyday attracted
considerable respect within sectors of the U.S. intelligence community.

Soviet Experiments in the 1960s

The catalyst for American interest in pseudoscientific intelligence
methods was the publication, in 1970, of
Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain.
According to authors Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder, a number of
Soviet scientists were interested in various aspects of the paranormal,
including telekinesis, extrasensory perception (ESP), parapsychology, and
various other psychic phenomena. These scientists had worked with military
and intelligence agencies in their country to explore methods for
deployment of paranormal abilities for defense and intelligence-collection
purposes.

Among the most intriguing stories included in the book was an account of
an experiment involving rabbits. Electrodes were inserted into the brain
of a mother rabbit, and baby rabbits—without implanted
electrodes—-were placed on a submarine that was then taken out to
sea and submerged. A baby rabbit was killed, and as the scientists
recorded, the brain of the mother, many miles away on shore, reacted at
the moment of death. Setting aside all questions of animal cruelty and
experimental ethics, the was interpreted to show that ESP existed and
served to connect minds.

Early CIA Experiments

Psychic Discoveries
elicited considerable interest in the use of the paranormal for
intelligence-gathering, but U.S. programs in psychic intelligence seem to
have started much earlier, probably sparked by an awareness of Soviet
activities in this area. The CIA conducted its own experiments with remote
viewing through its Directorate of Science and Technology (DS&T),
beginning in the mid-1960s, and continuing for many years thereafter.

During the early part of this period, Carl Duckett, who became CIA Deputy
Director for Science and Technology in 1966, funded remote viewing
experiments at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in California. Remote
viewers at SRI attempted to locate targets of interest in the Soviet
Union, and in other nations whose nuclear capabilities were a matter of
concern to the United States.

Evaluating results.
In late 1975, a team at Los Alamos National Laboratory conducted a study
of one experiment, in which remote viewer Pat Price evaluated a site under
investigation by both the CIA (which called it URDF-3, or Unidentified
Research and Development Facility-3) and the Air Force, which referred to
it as PNUTS, or Possible Nuclear Underground Test Site. The Los Alamos
evaluator compared Price's "findings" with those
obtained by satellite photography.

On the positive side, Price had "seen" a gantry crane that
was actually there, but he had also discerned nine other objects whose
presence the satellite revealed to be fictional. According to the Los
Alamos report, from December 1975, "the validity of Price's
remote viewing of URDF-3 appears to be a failure." Years later,
after the end of the Cold War, American scientists had an opportunity to
view the site firsthand, and learned that it was concerned with developing
nuclear-powered rockets for space flight.

DIA and Stargate.
During the late 1970s, DIA began developing a project codenamed
Grillflame, which ultimately became Stargate. The connection between
Psychic Discoveries
and Stargate is not a clear one, but Pentagon officials did examine the
book, and Stargate seems to have been a U.S. response to Soviet efforts.

At the time of the book's publication, DIA was a young agency
attempting to prove itself within the Intelligence Community. Formed in
1961, it had not fared well during the Vietnam War, when it faced
considerable intransigence from the intelligence agencies of the various
military services. The idea of using unorthodox means to gain intelligence
was seen by some personnel to offer a way of gaining a competitive edge
within the Intelligence Community.

Although lacking in scientific evidence, Stargate drew in a number of
respectable intelligence organizations—not just DIA, but also the
National Security Agency (NSA), which in September, 1979, requested remote
viewers' help with regard to Soviet submarine construction
projects. One remote viewer produced a surprisingly accurate reading,
predicting the launch of a new sub in 100 days. In fact the craft was
glimpsed 120 days later, but it had fewer than the 18 to 20 missile launch
tubes predicted by the remote viewer. Skeptics of remote viewing point out
that "hits" were often based upon clues given to
"viewers" and that misses were numerous.

In fairness to Stargate, it should be noted that Joseph McMoneagle, one of
the chief remote viewers, later said that all readings by remote viewers
were intended merely to augment, not supplant, intelligence gained by more
conventional means. Additionally, the NSA, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the
Drug Enforcement Administration, Secret Service, Customs Bureau, and Coast
Guard requested readings from Stargate remote viewers. So, too, did the
CIA, but in the mid-1990s the agency took over the program, had it
evaluated scientifically, then cut off funding.

In 1995, as a result of an executive order by President William J. Clinton
authorizing the declassification of certain materials, information on both
the SRI program, initiated in 1972, and Stargate became public. Both
programs appear to have lasted into the early 1990s, and when this
information became public, many observers wondered just how the
Intelligence Community could have invested so much money in such fanciful
activities.

One explanation was the cultural environment of the United States at the
time—an influence to which intelligence officials are not
necessarily any less susceptible than ordinary citizens. The 1970s was the
heyday of the paranormal, the occult—Satanism made the cover of
Time
magazine in 1972—and what scientists would describe as
pseudoscience. Israeli psychic Uri Geller appeared to bend spoons with his
mind on television, and popular TV programs such as
In Search of…
(hosted by
Star Trek
's Leonard Nimoy) treated outlandish notions with the utmost of
seriousness.

Despite the best efforts of professional skeptics like James Randi to
expose the fraud in pseudoscience, the fascination with bizarre programs
continued. During the 1970s, bestsellers such as Erik von Daniken's
Chariots of the Gods
promised evidence that extraterrestrial visitors had left countless clues
of their ancient journeys to Earth at sites such as the Great Pyramids in
Egypt. Interest in Nostradamus's writings swelled, and religious
cults flourished. It was an ideal time for experimentation in psychic
intelligence-gathering, and thus, it seems to be no accident that the CIA
and DIA programs took place during this period.

Additionally, there was the desire, noted earlier, to keep up with the
Soviets. Herein lies an irony. Though the United States would attempt to
develop its own psychic intelligence programs in competition with the
Soviet Union, it appears that the Soviets were only trying to keep up with
the Americans in the first place.
Psychic Discoveries
noted that Soviet experiments were sparked by a 1959 report in the French
magazine
Constellation
regarding alleged telepathy experiments conducted by the U.S. Navy. The
article, "Thought Transmission—Weapon of War," was
based on a misreading or misunderstanding of Navy activities. Therefore it
is possible to characterize experiments in psychic intelligence on both
sides of the iron curtain as, to some degree, a comedy of errors.

█ FURTHER READING:

BOOKS:

Mandelbaum, W. Adam.
The Psychic Battlefield: A History of the Military-Occult Complex.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.

Morehouse, David.
Psychic Warrior: Inside the CIA's Stargate Program: The True
Story of a Soldier's Espionage and Awakening.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.